On Saturday, Syracuse travels to Tallahassee to take on the Florida State Seminoles at noon. Syracuse is coming off four straight losses, two of which were on the final play of the game. Florida State is also coming off a loss against Georgia Tech.
The big difference is that it was FSU’s first loss of the season, while it was Syracuse’s fourth consecutive.
Florida State are currently ranked 17th in the AP Top 25. They’ve gotten there with a solid ground game led by Dalvin Cook. Cook has rushed for over 1,000 yards in just seven games, the fastest any FSU players has ever reached that milestone. He’s lightning quick and has great agility and vision. He’s been clocked at over 23 mph in practice, which is absolutely ridiculous.
Syracuse is going to need to contain him and the rest of the Florida State offense if they want any chance of pulling off the upset. Cook is still recovering from a hamstring injury he suffered in the beginning of October, but it hasn’t slowed him down much. If he’s at 100% for the game, it could be very tough sledding for the Syracuse defense. Think Leonard Fournette, only smaller and faster.
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Aside from the defense stuffing the run, they are also going to have to stop the FSU passing offense. Although not a juggernaut, they have moved the ball when they’ve needed to through the air and have a few receivers who are fast and have size. It’s going to take a team effort from Syracuse in pass coverage. Specifically, Julian Whigam, Corey Winfield, and Antwan Cordy are all going to need big games to keep Syracuse in it.
On offense, Syracuse is going to need to rely on heavy doses of Eric Dungey magic. Florida State is no slouch defensively, ranking 23rd in total defense and top 10 in scoring defense.
Steve Ishmael is also going to need to step up and have another great game. He played very well against Pittsburgh, going over the century mark for the first time this season. He’s going to need to duplicate that performance and then some to keep Syracuse within striking distance.
This is an interesting game for Florida State. They come in deflated after losing to Georgia Tech on a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown. It pretty much killed their chances at making the playoffs. It will be interesting to see how they respond. Will they come out angry and try to stick it to SU, or will they come out slow after their losing hangover?
In my opinion, Florida State is going to have a sluggish first half. I think the loss is still hanging over their heads. It’s tough to stay focused when your season goal just slipped through your fingers on a single play.
Syracuse has experienced similar hardship, and with two weeks of soul-crushing defeats, let’s hope they come out firing on all cylinders. If so, I think they have a chance to stay competitive, at least for a while. In the end, I think Florida State will have enough to pull out the victory. Syracuse will play well, but come up short once again with a final score of 31-21.
I’ll be live tweeting the game, so follow me on Twitter if you don’t get a chance to watch the game. Check back after the game for rapid reaction and analysis and stick around for more news and information on Syracuse football and basketball in the near future.